#Italian American heroes

[ananke-xiii]

Although I've never met one, the strongest people I know are those who give away/sell their books. I don't know how they find the strength to do it but they're doing it and I'm in awe of them. The most heroic person I actually know, however, is my second-hand books pusher and his stall at the market. I don't know how he finds them, and I don't want to know because I want to believe in magic, but every week he brings astounding variety to my knowledge table and I'm in awe of him.

[clevervonskelli]

Only one episode down but Season 2 of SAS Rogue Heroes is looking excellent so far.

[undeadvinyls]

i know yall voted for juveniles' parents lineup next but rlly wanted to post my gw babes :']

from L to R: Apollo 26/Roberta, Arthur, Felician, Naphat

[mariocki]

Lo voglio morto (I Want Him Dead, 1968)

"If the Confederates and the Yankees sign a truce, the two of us are ruined!"

"And so?"

"So, they have to keep killing each other until we've sold everything. Everything, right down to the last cartridge!"

[clove-pinks]

15 for the history ask if you haven’t answered already!

Were the history classes teached in an interesting way in your school/ college/ university? What would you do to improve them if you were the teacher / lecturer?

I would say yes, I have been blessed with some great history professors through the years. I still think about the fact that in Catholic high school [LOUD TRAIN HORN] years ago, in a heavily Italian-American state, my history class took an extremely critical look at Christopher Columbus—including primary source material in Columbus' own words.

If there's one big knock on my formal education in history, it has been very United States-centric. I would like to get away from this bias, and I also wish that Indigenous people/First Nations of the Americas were treated with the same care as European nations—recognising their distinct cultures, intertwining histories, languages, and relationships with one another as well as relationships with different European powers.

[soultoken-archived]

american comics are wild, man.

[cowboycunt]

gender affirming sex 🤌

[the-soup-specter-sillies]

finally italian americans can drop the columbus day bullshit and celebrate a REAL italian american hero <3

[gmaybe666]

free luigi the new italian american folk hero

[ransomnote]

i think it's very pointed that the four fascists up front are depicted as these withering, disgusting, sick and rotting bastards in their palace. i also have another theory that i got peer reviewed by some friends.

these are the four albums. let me elaborate.

BULLETS: dressed not like a european fascist, definitely not italian. the outfit invokes a presidential figure, dick cheney specifically comes to mind. very bush era, cocky, laughing, all american bastard.

REVENGE: ah, the dictator. the figure whose entire image rests on nostalgia for good times that never were. the red cape, the silver belt buckle, the face of the whole operation. but why would the dictator be revenge in a video continuing the story of the black parade? well, the same reason they dressed like this at when we were young fest 2022 night 1. fascism, as an ideology, is rooted in nostalgia.

THE BLACK PARADE: the old general. the one with all the medals weighing him down, now a sad husk of the man he used to be. the hero turned into a desk cop. he sits slumped, tired, apathetic to the performance in front of him.

DANGER DAYS: the spiritual leader, the oracle, the sick one. he's dressed nothing like anyone else. he doesn't look like he should even be there. he's gripping himself like the woman in front of him exists to sentence him to death, or like he knows something bad is coming and is powerless to stop it regardless of his rank. the attempts to hide his fear and his illness are fruitless. The End Is Nigh.

and then there was her.

we know nothing about her other than she opens her mouth and screeching, static noise comes out. i guess we will just have to wait and hear whatever song this was a teaser for to learn more. but what is crystal clear is that she scares the shit out of the fascists.

[metamorphesque]

Monte Melqonyan/Մոնթե Մելքոնյան (1957-1993)

Honestly, I don't even know where to begin. He's one of those extraordinary individuals about whom countless books could be written and numerous movies could be made, yet still, so much would remain untold. You might wonder, "He's a National Armenian Hero—cool, but why should I know about him?" My answer is simple: if the world had more people like him, especially in today's times, it would be a much better place. He fought for justice, embodied culture and education, and radiated a deep love for his people and humanity as a whole. I believe everyone should aspire to have a little bit of Monte's spirit within them, regardless of their nationality.

Now, it's important to note that some things written about him in the Western press can be questionable and inaccurate. So, I would advise taking most of the information from those sources with a grain of salt.

Monte was born on November 25, 1957, into an Armenian family in Visalia, California, that had survived the Armenian Genocide. From 1969 to 1970, his family traveled through Western Armenia, the birthplace of his ancestors. During this journey, Monte, at the age of twelve, began to realize his Armenian identity. While taking Spanish language courses in Spain, his teacher had posed him the question of where he was from. Dissatisfied with Melkonian's answer of "California", the teacher rephrased the question by asking "where did your ancestors come from?" His brother Markar Melqonyan remarked that "her image of us was not at all like our image of ourselves. She did not view us as the Americans we had always assumed we were." From this moment on, for days and months to come, Markar continues, "Monte pondered [their teacher Señorita] Blanca's question Where are you from?"

In high school, he excelled academically and struggled to find new challenges. Instead of graduating early, as suggested by his principal, Monte found an alternative - a study abroad program in East Asia. The decision to go to Japan was not random. He had been attending karate clubs and was the champion of the under-14 category in California. He also studied Japanese culture, including taking Japanese language courses. After completing his studies at a school in Osaka, Japan, he went to South Korea, where he studied under a Buddhist monk. He later traveled to Vietnam, witnessing the war and taking numerous photographs of the conflict. Upon returning to America, he had become proficient in Japanese and karate.

Having graduated from high school, Monte entered the University of California, Berkeley, with a Regents Scholarship, majoring in ancient Asian history and archaeology. In 1978, he helped organize an exhibition of Armenian cultural artifacts at one of the university's libraries. A section of the exhibit dealing with the Armenian Genocide was removed by university authorities at the request of the Turkish consul general in San Francisco, but it was eventually reinstalled following a campus protest movement. Monte completed his undergraduate work in under three years. During his time at the university, he founded the "Armenian Students' Union" and organized an exhibition dedicated to the Armenian Genocide in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey.

Upon graduating, he was accepted into the archaeology graduate program at the University of Oxford. However, Monte chose to forgo this opportunity and instead began his lifelong struggle for the Armenian Cause.

In the fall of 1978, Monte went to Iran and participated in demonstrations against the Shah. Later that year, he traveled to Lebanon, where the civil war was at its peak. In Beirut, he participated in the defense of the Armenian community. Here, he learned Arabic and, by the age of 22, was fluent in Armenian, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, Persian, Japanese, and Kurdish.

From 1980, Monte joined the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA – I promise to tell you more about them later) and quickly became one of its leaders. In 1981, he participated in the planning of the famous Van operation. In 1981, he was arrested at Orly Airport in France for carrying a false passport and a pistol. During his trial, Monte declared, "All Armenians carry false passports—French, American—they will remain false as long as they are not Armenian." Over the following years, he perfected his military skills at an ASALA training camp, eventually becoming one of the group's principal instructors.

Monte with his wife Seda

After being released from a French prison (once again) in 1989, Monte arrived in Armenia in 1991, where armed clashes between Armenians and azerbaijanis had already begun. He founded the "Patriots" unit and spent seven months in Yerevan working at the Academy of Sciences, writing and publishing the book "Armenia and its Neighbors." In September of the same year, he went to the Republic of Artsakh to fight for his fatherland and its people. Due to his military expertise, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Martuni defense district in 1992. His sincerity and purity quickly won the love and respect of the local population and the Armenian community as a whole.

Throughout his conscious life, Monte fought for the rights of Armenians, recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and the reclamation of Armenian homeland.

There are various versions of Monte Melqonyan's death circulating in both Armenian and azerbaijani media. According to official Armenian information, Monte was killed on June 12, 1993, by fire from an azerbaijani armored vehicle.

Monte remains a lasting testament to the incredible potential unleashed when the Armenian patriotic heart unites with sharp intellect.

In case you'd like to put a voice to the face and hear about the Artsakh struggle directly from Monte, here he is speaking about it in English.

[rebel-at-heart713]

Is anyone else very impressed with how Rick Riordan basically tricked Disney into publishing books with very LGBT+ characters which sort of seems like something Disney tries to hide. (Hide meaning only tiny glimpses that they can hide easily)

What I mean by “tricking”

The Lightning Thief. Simple. All the kids are assumed cis white and straight. Only really inclusive in the way that they have learning disabilities and messy family life. And it stays that way, maybe adding some side characters that are POC, (Beckendorf being described as black but there’s not much interaction with him until The Demigod Files and Last Olympian. Maybe you could say Nico and Bianca are Italian immigrants.

Then you get to Heroes of Olympus, where out of the 7 in Great Prophecy only 3 are white, (you got Piper being Native American, Hazel is Black, Leo is Latino and Frank is Chinese-Canadian) but most are still assumed straight. Until you get Nico’s reveal in House of Hades (if I remember right)

But then….oh boy.

Trials of Apollo.

Apollo is the main character and canonically bisexual, talking about several past lovers some male some female. Even stating one of his campers mortal parent is also her father. There is a cannon gay couple. There’s a cannon old lesbian couple.

Magnus Chase

Practically cannon gay couple (one deaf), Muslim character, pan character, trans gender fluid.

Now we are getting a book that stars a gay couple.

Rick basically said to Disney, “look at these! Harmless adventure stories. Look. Locked in? Okay! POC and LGBT+ can’t say no to me now I’m selling too many books. If I go to someone else I’ll just be making them money.

I just find it very funny, but I also credit Rick with exposing me to a lot of it. Before I read these books I hadn’t seen too much of this stuff in other media.

(Also adding how in Daughter of the Deep the main character gets her period in the middle of the book and it’s treated as normal.)

[fdelopera]

America owes its independence to Haym Salomon, a Sephardic Jewish Patriot

A Jewish American Hero

by Yosef Kaufmann

October 17, 1781. An eerie silence takes hold over the battlefield outside Yorktown, Virginia. After weeks of non-stop artillery shells and rifle fire, the rhythmic pounding of a drum is all that is heard. Through the wispy smoke that floats above the battlefield, a British officer can be seen waving a white flag. General Cornwallis has surrendered Yorktown, ending the last major battle of the American Revolution. The surrender of Yorktown and the nearly 8,000 British troops convinced the British Parliament to start negotiating an end to the war. On September 3, 1783, the treaty of Paris was signed. The war was over.

If not for Haym Salomon, however, the decisive victory at Yorktown never would have happened.

Haym Salomon was born in Leszno, Poland, in 1740. In 1770, he was forced to leave Poland for London as a result of the Partition of Poland. Five years later, he left London for New York City, where he quickly established himself as a broker for international merchants.

Sympathetic to the Patriot cause, Haym joined the New York branch of the Sons of Liberty, a secret society that did what it could to undermine British interests in the colonies. In 1776, he was arrested by the British and charged with being a spy. He was pardoned on condition that he spend 18 months on a British ship serving as a translator for the Hessian mercenaries, as he was fluent in Polish, French, German, Russian, Spanish and Italian. During those 18 months, Haym used his position to help countless American prisoners escape. He also convinced many Hessian soldiers to abandon the British and join the American forces.

In 1778, he was arrested again and sentenced to death for his involvement in a plot to burn the British Royal fleet in the New York Harbour. He was sent to Provost to await execution, but he managed to bribe a guard and escape under the cover of darkness.

He fled New York, which was under the control of the British army, and moved to Philadelphia, the capital of the Revolution.

He borrowed money and started a business as a dealer of bills of exchange. His office was located near a coffee house frequented by the command of the American forces. He also became the agent to the French consul and the paymaster for the French forces in North America. Here he became friendly with Robert Morris, the newly appointed Superintendent of Finance for the 13 colonies. Records show that between 1781 and 1784, through both fundraising and personal loans, he was responsible for financing George Washington over $650,000, today worth approximately over $13 million.

By 1781, the American congress was practically broke. The huge cost of financing the war effort had taken its toll. In September of that year, George Washington decided to march on Yorktown to engage General Cornwallis. A huge French fleet was on its way from the West Indies under the command of Comte De Grasse. The fleet would only be able to stay until late October, so Washington was facing immense pressure to lead an attack on Yorktown before then.

After marching through Pennsylvania, with little in the way of food and supplies, Washington’s troops were on the verge of mutiny. They demanded a full month's pay in coins, not congressional paper money which was virtually worthless, or they would not continue their march. Washington wrote to Robert Morris saying he would need $20,000 to finance the campaign. Morris responded that there was simply no money or even credit left. Washington simply wrote, “Send for Haym Salomon.” Within days, Haym Salomon had raised the $20,000 needed for what proved to be the decisive victory of the Revolution.

Haym’s chessed continued after the war. Whenever he met someone who he felt had sacrificed during the war and needed financial assistance, he didn’t hesitate to do whatever he could to help.

He was also heavily involved in the Jewish community. He was a member of Congregation Mikveh Yisroel in Philadelphia, the fourth oldest synagogue in America, and he was responsible for the majority of the funds used to build the shul’s main building.

He also served as the treasurer to the Society for the Relief of Destitute Strangers, the first Jewish charitable organization in Philadelphia.

On January 8, 1785, Haym died suddenly at the age of 44. Due to the fact the government owed him hundreds of thousands of dollars, his family was left penniless.

His obituary in the Independent Gazetteer read:

Thursday, last, expired, after a lingering illness, Mr. Haym Salomon, an eminent broker of this city, was a native of Poland, and of the Hebrew nation. He was remarkable for his skill and integrity in his profession, and for his generous and humane deportment. His remains were yesterday deposited in the burial ground of the synagogue of this city.

Although there is little proof, many believe that when designing the American Great Seal, George Washington asked Salomon what he wanted as compensation for his generosity during the war. Salomon responded “I want nothing for myself, rather something for my people.” It is for this reason that the 13 stars are arranged in the shape of the Star of David.

[thefugitivesaint]

''Starfix'', #2, 1983 The 1980s saw a proliferation of 'Sword & Sorcery' films and the genre of "Heroic Spaghetti" was the 'Sword and Sandal'/'Sword and Sorcery' version of Spaghetti Westerns. They were cheaply produced Italian movies that imitated/plagarized/copied American movies of the same genre (which often had larger budgets and more professional production values although, in relation to other American films, were considered low budget shlock).

Conan the Barbarian (1982) Far too many cheap Italian fantasy films were badly reproduced versions of 'Conan'.

'Sword and the Sorcerer', ''L'ecran Fantastique'', #25, 1982 (The poster art was done by the British artist Peter Andrew Jones) A film I've posted about previously and I stand by what I wrote.

'The Beastmaster', ''L'ecran Fantastique'', #23, 1982 Peak Marc Singer's abs. The only memorable aspect of this movie for me was the appearance of the 'Winged Devourers'.

Hawk the Slayer (1980) Arguably the film that began the 'Sword & Sorcery' craze of the 1980s. It's also in direct competition with 'The Beastmaster' as one of the worst films in the genre.

Krull (1982) 'Sword & Sorcery' but IN SPACE. Still enjoy the special effects around the 'Slayers', alien knights (of sorts) who are the soldiers of 'The Beast', the primary antagonist of the film. I still think that the 'Glaive', the magical weapon used by the film's hero (he's holding it in the poster art), is one of the most impractical weapons ever conceived. Saw this film in theaters as a child and loved it. I have less love for it in adulthood is what I will kindly say now.

Frank Frazetta (1928-2010), 'Fire and Ice', 1983 'Sword & Sorcery' but ANIMATED. Ralph Bakshi's animated film created in collaboration with Frazetta. If you want to see a movie that involved a great deal of creative work from some very creative people only to tell a predictable and mediocre story than I recommend watching 'Fire and Ice.' Like many of the cheaply made horror films of the 1980s, the poster art and VHS box art for fantasy films were far superior to the content they advertised. The same applies to the "Heroic Spaghetti" films. The poster art for almost all of the "Heroic Spaghetti" films was done by outside companies not directly involved in the production and most of the art was done by Italian artists Enzo Sciotti (1944-2021) and Renato Casaro. The poster art they created is probably the only enduring legacy of this genre given how utterly forgettable the films were.

I could name dozens of additional films here but I'm not going to waste your time (nor mine). If you're reading this you can easily look them up yourself.

[chernobog13]

Italian poster for the 1966 film Golden Bat (aka Ogon Bat).

They got the head and shape of the costume mostly right, but then they went off the rails.

I guess, with the (translated) title The Return of Diavolik, the Italian exhibitors thought they would be able to fill theaters with people who thought this was a film based on Diabolik. Diabolik, an Italian comic book character created in 1962, was a mega-popular at the time, an anti-hero thief in an all-black costume that only showed his eyes. Diabolik made it to the big screen in the Mario Bava-directed film Danger: Diabolik (1968). American actor John Phillip Law (who would later star in 1974's The Golden Voyage of Sinbad) played the titular super-thief.

As you can see, there isn't really any resemblance between the two characters.

However, there is another Italian comic book anti-hero, one whose comic book costume was basically copied for the Golden Bat poster: Kriminal.

Inspired by the success of Diabolik, Kriminal debuted in Italian comics two years later. He was another anti-hero thief, and the similarities with Diabolik didn't stop there. He was, though, much more sadistic than his inspiration. His stories included a lot more sex and violence, especially against women, whom he would murder to protect his identity.

Never as successful as his forbear, Kriminal nevertheless had a ten-year run in comics, and spawned two films:

Kriminal (1966). He really looks like Golden Bat in that second poster.

The Mark of Kriminal (1967).

Of course, none of these characters should be confused with another fellow with a skeleton motif: Sadistik, the Diabolical Super Kriminal!

Originally named Killing when he debuted in Italian comics (fumetti, to be more precise) in 1966, Sadistik was inspired by the excesses of Kriminal. There's just one thing: Sadistik didn't think Kriminal went far enough, so he made sure to out-do his idol (whom he had a crossover with, the first in Italian comics). This guy didn't pretend to be an anti-hero; he was an out-and out villain who occasionally wiped out other crooks who got in his way.

He was known as Satanik in France (Killing just seemed a little on-the-nose), and Sadistik in the English-speaking world. His fumetti exploits only lasted 62 issues over three years in his native Italy. In Argentina, where he was still called Killing, the publishers there created their own stories when the original ones ran out. The Argentinian series lasted into the 1980s.

Additionally, the character was called KiLiNK in Turkey, where he was the star of several unauthorized films (I sometimes wonder if that's the only kind Turkey made) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The best known of those films is 1967's Killing In Istanbul.

Apparently, the son of a scientist KiLiNK kills somehow gains super-powers, and calls himself Superman. His battle with KiLiNK carries over to the sequel, which was released the same year.

Anyway, what was I talking about when I started this post?

[artemlegere]

The Damsel and Orlando

Artist: Benjamin West (American, 1738–1820)

Date: c. 1793

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, United States

Description

The Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto’s epic "Orlando furioso" (1516) enjoyed revived popularity in the eighteenth century. In this melodramatic scene, the costumes, the physical types, and, especially, the poses are reminiscent of the style of the Italian High Renaissance, which West greatly admired. The hero, Orlando, is shown as he learns that he has lost his place in the affections of Angelica, who now loves someone else and has dispensed with a jeweled bracelet Orlando had given her. The painter concentrated all the work’s tension in the theatrical pose of Orlando, who, in the wildness of his grief, loses his mind.